


Take It Back

by duskblue



Series: Irondad Bingo 2019 [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Tony Stark, Bruises, Bullying, Gen, Iron Dad, Irondad Bingo 2019, Peter Parker forgets his strength, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 05:49:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20869214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duskblue/pseuds/duskblue
Summary: Peter forgets his strength during school and ends up in the principal’s office being faced with a zero tolerance policy and a week suspension. Tony is not pleased.“W-what are you doing?” Mr Morita asks.“Calling my lawyers. This is ridiculous.”





	Take It Back

It happens when Mr Harrington leaves the room to pick up some copies from the library. One second Peter is looking down at his phone and the next, he’s staring up at Flash, who has appeared beside his desk like an apparition. 

“My father found out where the Academic Decathlon field trip is going to be. Would you like to know?” Flash says, folding his arms over his chest and smirking down at Peter.

Peter has a feeling he doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter, so he sighs and pockets his phone. The last thing he needs is for Flash to make fun of his text to Mr Stark asking what’s for dinner that night. It’s Friday, and he’s spending the weekend at the compound. Why can’t the school day just end already?

“Avenger’s compound,” Flash says even though he wasn’t asked. “Yeah, you probably didn’t know that since you don’t have any sort of connection to Tony Stark or the Avengers. Fortunately for me, my dad knows people in high places, including some really high up execs at SI. That’s how he found out.”

“That’s really cool, Flash,” Peter says, his voice monotone. He really wishes Ned wasn’t in the bathroom. He’d rather not handle Flash on his own. “I hope his information is correct. Would be embarrassing if it were wrong.”

Flash’s eyebrows draw together, and he purses his lips, narrowing his eyes down at Peter. “Why would my dad be wrong? Are you implying that you have different information?”

“No, I just don’t care.” Peter leans onto his desk, his jaw on his left palm and facing away from Flash. He mutters, “It’s not like I haven’t seen the compound a million times anyway.”

“What was that?” Flash’s voice is loud and sharp, and the whole room quiets down. “How would _you_ be allowed to be at the Avenger’s compound?”

Peter feels himself losing his patience. He’s tired and hungry and just wants to get out of school for the week. Having to deal with the third degree and the bragging from Flash every single day is wearing on him, and he’s had enough. So he sits back in his chair and looks up at Flash. “How many times do I have to say it?” he asks, feeling exasperated. “I am an SI intern. I know Tony Stark. Why wouldn’t I have been to the compound?”

“Yeah, and no one believes you!” Flash shoots back immediately. “What’s so special about you? _If_ you are an intern, and that’s a huge if--he obviously made the wrong choice picking you over me. Maybe he’s not as great as everyone thinks he is.”

Peter is used to Flash saying mean things about him. He deals with it on a daily basis, and most of the time, he just lets it roll off his shoulders. He can take it. But what he can’t take is anyone, especially Flash, saying mean things about Mr Stark. So he stands up, his chair screeching against the floor. 

Half the people in the room flinch at the movement, but Peter barely sees them. All he sees is Flash, who is standing his ground in front of him. 

“Take that back,” Peter says.

“Take what back? How you’re a loser and don’t deserve to intern anywhere much less at SI? Or the part where I implied you weren’t actually an intern there at all? Why would I take back the truth?” Flash appears to be taking this new development in stride, but he does take a step backwards when it’s clear that Peter isn’t backing down.

“You can say whatever you want about me,” Peter says. “But Mr Stark one hundred percent doesn’t deserve it. So take it back now.”

Flash just laughs and shoves his shoulder. “Whatever, Parker. I stand by my word. _If_ he hired you as an intern, and that’s a big if, then he really is an idiot.”

Peter’s not even thinking when he shoves Flash back, only he apparently forgets his strength because one second Flash is standing before him, and the next, he’s flying against a desk, sending it skidding across the floor and into another desk. Another student grabs Flash’s arm before he can trip and fall to the floor, and in the next moment, every single eye in the room is on Peter. 

And that’s when Peter realizes that Mr Harrington is standing in the doorway. 

“I leave the room for two minutes, and you can’t even behave yourselves?” Mr Harrington says, walking over to his desk and tossing the stack of copies onto it. “Peter, Flash, I’m going to have to send you to the principal’s office. You know the rules--no fighting! What is wrong with you two?”

Peter feels a little numb. He can’t believe he stooped to Flash’s level, and he can’t believe he shoved him that hard. There is definitely something wrong with him. And now he’s going to get detention until the end of time, and he’ll never be able to go to the compound ever again. 

“Come on, Peter,” Mr Harrington says, sounding annoyed. He’s already gotten a hold of Flash, and they are waiting for him at the door. “Get moving!”

The second Peter grabs his backpack and walks to the door with his back to the rest of his classmates, they begin chatting excitedly about everything that had just transpired. He does his best to ignore them and follows Mr Harrington and Flash out into the hallway. He wishes he could text Ned to tell him what’s going on, but he has a feeling taking out his phone when he’s already in trouble wouldn’t exactly be a good idea. So he just trails behind all the way to the principal’s office.

Once they arrive into the foyer, Mr Harrington instructs Flash to sit on one side of a row of five chairs and then Peter to sit at the complete opposite end. “Stay in those chairs until Mr Morita says otherwise, and don’t say a single word to one another. Understand?”

Both boys agree and watch their teacher disappear into the principal’s office.

“You are in so much trouble when my parents see the giant bruise on my ribs,” Flash says the second the door closes. “You’ll probably get expelled.”

Peter just focuses his gaze on the floor in front of his feet. Mr Harrington had clearly told them not to talk, and he doesn’t need to be in any additional trouble.

“Did you hear me, Parker?” Flash says. “Expelled. Good luck getting out of this one.”

The door to the principal’s office clicks open, and Mr Harrington and Mr Morita step out into the foyer. Mr Harrington thanks the principal and heads to the door, leaving Peter and Flash alone with Mr Morita. Peter can feel his eyes on him, but doesn’t dare look up. 

“I want you to call my parents immediately!” Flash says, breaking the silence. “Parker shoved me hard into a desk, and I probably have three broken ribs!”

“Unfortunately,” Mr Morita says after a moment. “I will have to call both your parents. You both know we have a zero tolerance policy for fighting, and it’s an automatic week suspension.”

Peter looks up at this. He knew about the zero tolerance policy, but he hadn’t been thinking about it when Flash had been running his mouth. Besides, Flash had pushed him first. Didn’t that count for anything?

“What?” Flash says. “He’s the one who was fighting! I didn’t do anything, Mr Morita!”

Peter opens his mouth to refute this statement but then quickly closes it. Yelling at Flash in front of the principal isn’t going to do him any favors. 

“Mr Harrington says he witnessed the fight,” Mr Morita says. “And that you both pushed each other, so please don’t try to tell me otherwise, Flash. Unless you want to accuse Mr Harrington of lying.”

Flash presses his lips together in a straight line for a moment. “I barely touched him. He sent me flying across the room. I think he should be expelled and go to some sort of anger management class because he clearly has issues.”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Mr Morita holds up his hands. “I want the two of you to sit here in silence and think about what you’ve done. I’m going to be right behind that window—” He points. “—watching you and calling your parents. For your sake and mine, I hope they get here very quickly.”

Peter clears his throat. “My aunt sometimes can’t answer her phone at work,” he says. 

Mr Morita switches his gaze from Flash to Peter. “Do you have a second emergency contact?”

Peter has to stop himself from sighing because he knows he’s in major trouble now. “Yeah… I guess.”

The wait feels like it’s forever and not long enough at the same time. Flash has tried to engage Peter in some sort of verbal fight a few times, but Peter does his best to ignore him by taking out his homework and working on it in silence. However, it’s really hard to concentrate when you’re facing your pending doom.

And then the door creaks open. Peter’s heart is in his throat when he sees an expensive sneaker step into the room. Wearing those sneakers is of course, Tony Stark, his second emergency contact. Instead of a suit and tie, Mr Stark has on an oil smudged pair of jeans and an old t-shirt to match. He positively looks like he just stepped out of the shop.

_Oh great_, Peter thinks, sinking into his seat as far as he can and feeling the dread race through his veins. _I’m dead now._

But Mr Stark just looks at him with concern. “What in the hell is going on here? You got into a fight? Over what?” He’s standing in front of Peter now, holding his protégé’s jaw gently between his fingers and looking him over for injuries when he notices Flash sitting on the other side of the room. 

Flash is staring at Mr Stark with his jaw practically dangling. 

“Is this the kid who hit you?” Mr Stark asks narrowing his eyes briefly before looking back at Peter. “Show me the bruise.”

“I’m fine, Mr Stark,” Peter mumbles, slipping away from his hold. “I’m not hurt. It was really stupid. But I don’t wanna talk about it here.”

Mr Stark glances back up at Flash, who seems to be frozen in a state of shock. “This kid bothering you? Want me to get rid of him? Where are his parents?”

The door to the principal’s office opens before Peter can reply, and Mr Morita stands aside while holding it open. “Thank you for coming, Mr Stark. Why don’t you and Peter step inside so we can talk a little.”

Peter hurries to shove his homework back in his backpack while Mr Stark and Mr Morita shake hands. He then slings the strap over his shoulder before he makes his way towards the office. He’s been in trouble at school before for skipping to do Spider-man stuff, but he’s never actually been in a fight with a classmate before. A part of him wishes May were there instead of Mr Stark, but then again, when he thinks about it for more than a second, maybe that would be even worse. Just before he disappears into Mr Morita’s office, he glances at Flash, who is still gaping at him in shock. 

“Have a seat,” Mr Morita says, gesturing to the two chairs in front of his desk. 

“I’m a little shocked,” Mr Stark says, watching Peter while he carefully takes the remaining seat. “As far as I know, Peter has never been in a fight at school before. I’m going to need the full story before any punishment is doled out. And I want to hear more than Pete’s version because I don’t know if you’re aware, but this kid has a bad habit of downplaying things.”

“No, I wasn’t aware. But before we get into that, I was looking at Peter’s paperwork, and it seems like May Parker has given you permission to sign him out of school?”

Mr Stark nods. “It’s hard for her to get out of work.”

“Okay, we’ll proceed, but I’ll still need to call Mrs Parker regarding this. Peter, why don’t you start telling us what happened.”

With both pairs of eyes on him, Peter feels even more uncomfortable. He doesn’t exactly want to tell anyone what he and Flash were fighting over. It’s just so stupid. Mr Stark is going to think he’s dumb. “Will I be expelled if I don’t?” he asks, looking at the principal.

“Peter,” Mr Stark says before Mr Morita can reply. “Just tell us what happened. It can’t possibly be that bad.”

“Okay, fine,” Peter says, grumbling a little. If Mr Stark expects downplaying, then he won’t be disappointed, right? “Mr Harrington stepped out of the room. I was texting _you_, Mr Stark, asking what was for dinner because I was hungry.”

“Whatever you want,” Mr Stark adds in.

“Then,” Peter goes on, “Flash came up to me and started telling me about how his dad knows all these important people, and because of that he knows where the Academic Decathlon is going for our field trip this year. He said we were going to the Avenger’s Compound, which whatever. I’m literally going there after school today. I told him it would be embarrassing if his dad were wrong, and he got mad and said if I had an internship at SI, I definitely didn’t deserve it. I told him to take it back, and he shoved me. So I shoved him back.”

“Peter, you shoved him really hard,” Mr Morita says, sounding grave. “Mr Harrison says he flew into a desk. And I’m sorry, but I’ve heard Flash say similar things to you at least twice just by walking down the hallway, and you barely reacted. Are you sure that’s the full story?”

Peter looks away from him and bites his lip. He hadn’t counted on Mr Morita knowing Flash’s usual bullying routine. He purposely avoids saying that stuff to Mr Stark because it’s embarrassing, but he guesses he’ll have to elaborate a little more even so. “Fine,” he says, almost under his breath. “He said something bad about Mr Stark. I kinda freaked out.”

Mr Stark puts his hand on Peter’s back. “You don’t have to stick up for me. I’m sure a lot of people have said way worse, kid. In fact, I know people have.”

“Yeah, but they didn’t say it to _me_,” Peter says, curling in on himself a little. “I’m sorry I pushed Flash so hard. I really just wanted him to take it back. I guess I forgot my strength.” 

“It’s okay,” Mr Stark says, giving his back a few pats. “That happens to the best of us sometimes.”

“No, it’s not okay,” Mr Morita says, closing Peter’s folder. “Peter, if you can’t solve your problems with words, then you need to alert a teacher.”

“I changed my mind,“ Mr Stark says, sitting back in his seat and straightening out his shoulders. “I don’t need to hear any other version. I believe what Peter says happened, happened. Besides, that kid pushed him first. He had every right to defend himself.”

Mr Morita looks a little uncomfortable with Mr Stark’s change of mood, and he tries to hide it, but isn’t doing a very good job. “Mr Stark,” he says. “Midtown has a strict zero tolerance policy on fighting. Any student exhibiting violence will receive a week suspension no matter who started the fight. In this case, Peter and Flash both pushed one another, so they will both get week suspensions. The reason we’re talking about this is so it doesn’t happen again in the future.”

“It won’t,” Peter says. Honestly, he just wants to get out of there, and he’s prepared to say whatever he has to get make this meeting end. “I know I shouldn’t have pushed Flash. I’ll try not to let what he says bother me anymore.”

“Okay, wait. Hold on.” Mr Stark holds up his hand until both Peter and Mr Morita look at him. “Mr Morita, you said you knew about this Flash kid--what kind of a name is that anyway?--picking on Peter, and you did nothing about it. So basically, the situation has escalated despite the fact that the teachers know about it, and now Peter is getting in trouble for defending himself?” He stands up to take his phone out of his pocket.

“W-what are you doing?” Mr Morita asks.

“Calling my lawyers. This is ridiculous.”

Mr Morita’s wide eyes find Peter’s, but Peter only shrugs helplessly. He knows from personal experience that you can’t stop Tony Stark when he’s bound and determined to do something, especially if that thing involves Peter himself. 

“Okay, wait, wait,” Mr Morita says, standing up halfway and leaning over the desk when Mr Stark puts the phone to his ear. “What if we alter the punishment just a little? Flash’s parents are probably going to be mad too, so I can’t just take away all punishment, but what if it we changed it to a three day suspension for both kids?”

Mr Stark just looks at him, the phone still ringing in his ear.

“A three day suspension,” Mr Morita goes on, “and a workshop required for all students and faculty on bullying.”

Mr Stark pulls the phone away from his ear and taps something on the screen, sliding it back into his pocket. “If what I’m hearing is true, and this Flash kid or whatever has been picking on Peter for quite a while, then maybe he needs some extra education on the matter. Peter shouldn’t have shoved him, but if it had been me, I would have done way more than shove him a long time ago. Peter has the most kind heart of anyone I know, and if he resorted to violence, then trust me, it was well deserved. So fine, give him a three day suspension. I’ll need a list of his assignments for the days he’s missing so he can stay on top of things. But you know as well as I do that this—” He waves his hand as if gesturing to the entire school. “—is all just busy work for him. This kid does college level work, and the fact that he has to deal with some snot nosed bully while he’s wasting his time here is ridiculous.”

Peter is sitting still in his chair, not blinking as he looks back and forth between Mr Stark and Mr Morita. He’s never seen anyone talk to Mr Morita like that before, and it’s a little nerve wracking.

Mr Morita, on the other hand, looks absolutely terrified. His face is red, and he’s fallen back in his seat, looking up at Mr Stark with his mouth half open. “I’m sorry, Mr Stark, but this school has policies in place for a reason. Zero tolerance means zero tolerance. If we don’t follow the policies, then other students will think they can get away with whatever they want.”

Mr Stark puts his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Peter is sorry he pushed his bully. Now hand over the paperwork for me to sign, and we’ll be out of here. You can call his aunt and update her on the situation, but let me give you some advice. Call her now when she can’t answer and leave her a message on her voicemail. She’s ten times scarier than I am.”

In a rush, Mr Morita shoves over the sign out sheet, which Mr Stark signs without really looking it over. He does, however print an email address on the top.

“Don’t forget about the assignments,” he says. “Come on, Pete. You want to stop for burgers on the way to the compound?”

Peter gets up from his seat and smiles awkwardly. His stomach is practically eating itself though, so it’s a no brainer. “Yeah!” he says before turning to his principal. “Sorry for the trouble, Mr Morita. I’m really sorry I pushed Flash.”

“Yeah, yeah, give it a rest,” Mr Stark says, grabbing Peter’s arm and pulling him towards the door. “You’re making me feel bad for threatening to call my lawyers.”

When they walk back into the foyer, Flash is still sitting there by himself, and Peter feels bad that his parents have still not yet arrived. He’s never actually seen Flash’s parents at any school event, and it’s kind of sad. 

He takes a few brave steps towards where Flash is sitting while Mr Stark waits not so patiently at the door. “I’m sorry I pushed you,” Peter says. “Even though you kind of deserved it. Guess I’ll see you on Thursday.”

Flash’s mouth is open but no words are coming out. 

Mr Stark knocks lightly on the doorframe. “Come on, kid, let’s get out of here. If I hear you apologize one more time today, I’m gonna throw up.”

Peter takes one more look at Flash and then follows Mr Stark out of the office. “That was so embarrassing,” he says, leading the way to his locker so he can grab the rest of his books. Thankfully the hallways are empty. “I’m going to have nightmares about it for weeks.”

“Me?” Mr Stark says, looking at Peter with wide eyes. “You find _me_ embarrassing? How is that even possible when I’m the most awesome being in this entire universe?”

“No, not you, Mr Stark!” Peter says, reaching for his lock and popping in the combination. “I mean the whole situation. My school is going to be talking about this forever. Not only that, but Flash will probably spin it so I’m the bad guy. Do you even remember how awful high school can be or was that too long ago?”

“Hey!” Mr Stark says, taking Peter’s backpack when it’s held out to him and holding it open so Peter can dump the rest of his books into it. “I kind of resent that. Actually, I sped through high school. All the kids there were older than me. It was awkward enough. That’s why I don’t say much about you going to this school with kids your age. You just need a little supplemental learning, which we’ll do while you’re on suspension.” He waits while Peter zips up the backpack and then takes it from him. “Pepper’s going to be thrilled when I tell her to cancel all my meetings next week.”

“All next week?” Peter asks, shouldering the backpack. “I thought it was only going to be three days.”

“Shh!” Mr Stark pats him on the back. “She doesn’t need to know that. Now let’s get a move on. I missed lunch, and I’m starving.”

BONUS:

**Ned: I heard you hit Flash so hard he flew across the room and knocked like three desks over with his body. DUDE. That is AWESOME! **

**Ned: But seriously……… are you in trouble now? I hope you don’t get expelled**

**Ned: Even if you do I’m so sorry I missed it!!!! :( **

**Author's Note:**

> I guess I'm writing the field trip trope next? LOL
> 
> Thanks for your kudos and comments, everyone!! <3 hugs!!! I'll be back to working on my long story for a while and then I'll come back to this bingo, promise! (Probably not going to finish this year, but oh well!)


End file.
